Continuous sampling device for dry ground materials



June 1, 1965 H. W. KOGER CONTINUOUS SAMPLING DEVICE FOR DRY GROUND MATERIALS Filed Sept. 9, 1963 ls' 4 w l8 i i 2'8 2? 2'? 4O. 24

2 Sheets-Sheet l Hershell W. Koqer INVENTOR.

A T TORNEY June 1, 1965 H. w. KOGER 3,186,233

commuous SAMPLING DEVICE FOR DRY GROUND MATERIALS Filed Sept. 9, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 III \ Hershell W. Koger INVENTOR.

BY a ATTORNEY United States Patent CONTINUGUS SAMPLING DEVICE FOR DRY GRQUND MATERIALS Hershell W. Koger, Huntsville, Ala, assignor to Thiokol Chemical Corporation, Bristol, Pa., a corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 9, 1963, Ser. No. 307,413 1 Claim. (Cl. 73-421) This invention relates to improvements in sampling devices that continuously collect samples of dry ground materials, such as an oxidizer for solid propellants, as such materials are fed into a supply bin prior to their inclusion into solid propellants.

The sampling device is positioned in the path of the dry ground materials in their free fall from the grinding apparatus into a supply bin. The dry material must be ground by the grinding apparatus to predetermined particle sizes; and the sampling device will, by collecting such particles, permit the visual inspection thereof to determine if the particle size of the dry material meets specifications.

Prior tothe use of the sampling device embodying the present invention, no such device had been found that would give a definite sample of the dry materials being ground. The sampling device compensates automatically for variations of composition .and is capable of delivering representative samples of the cross-section of a homogeneous stream of dry ground materials.

It is an object of the invention, therefore, to provide a sampling device that will continuously sample a free fall stream of dry ground, homogeneous materials and provide a true cross-section of such stream throughout the grinding operation of such materials.

It is another object of the invention to provide a sampling device having a precision-built inlet therefor that will sample the correct amount of dry materials that are being ground.

With the above and other objects and advantages in view, the invention consists of the novel details of construction, arrangement and combination of parts more fully hereinafter described, claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a transverse sectional view of the metering valve of a grinding apparatus showing the manner of mounting the sampling device in the stream of dry ground material as it is being fed into a supply bin.

FIGURE 2 is a similar view but with the metering valve turned 90 from the position shown in FIGURE 1, and

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a sampling device embodying the invention, partly broken away, to more clearly show its manner of construction.

Referring more in detail to the drawings wherein like parts are designated by like reference numerals, the reference numeral .10 is used to generally designate a sampling device embodying the invention.

To illustrate the manner of use of the sampling device 10, there is shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 a portion of a grinding apparatus 11. The portion of the grinding apparatus 11 illustrated includes a discharge hopper 12 having a discharge throat 13 provided with an annular attaching flange 14 at the outermost edge thereof. Secured to the flange 14 of the discharge throat 13 in any wellknown manner is an annular flange 15 of the inlet pipe 16 of a valve housing 17. The valve housing 17 is also provided with an outlet pipe 18 having an annular attaching flange 12 at the outermost edge thereof.

There is secured to the flange 19 of the outlet pipe 18 a mounting ring 2t) which is provided with an annular, centrally-located groove 21 which serves to operationally mount the sampling device 10, as will be later described.

Mounted for rotation within the valve housing 17 is a metering valve 22; and a small electric motor 9 for roice tating the metering valve 22 is mounted on or adjacent to the valve housing 17, as shown in FIGURE 2. As shown in FIGURE 1, the metering valve 22 will receive and discharge the ground material fed thereto from the hopper 1'2 simultaneously; and the metering valve 22 is so constructed that the inlet pipe 16 i never in direct communication with the outlet pipe 18 at any time. This is necessary so that, if suction is applied to the outlet pipe 18, no ground material will pas through the valve housing 17 except that portion thereof that is to be fed into the outlet pipe 18 by the metering valve 22. The electric motor 9 is controllable so that the rotation of the metering valve 22 can be varied as desired to, in turn, control the rate of discharge of the ground material through the outlet pipe 18.

Referring to FIGURE 3, there is shown in detail the structure of the sampling device 10 which includes a pair of endamounting brackets 23 and 24 respectively. The outer edges of the brackets 23 and 24 flare or diverge outwardly at the lower portions 25 thereof so that the lower portions 25 are substantially triangular in shape, as shown. Integral with the upper ends of the brackets 23 and 24 are substantially U-shaped retaining clamps 26 and 27 which .are provided with aligned openings 28 and 29 respectively and aligned openings 30 and 31 respectively. Bolts may .be extended through the aligned openings of the retaining clamps 26 and 27 to secure the mounting clamps 23 and 24 to the mounting ring 20 with the ends of the retaining clamps 26 .and 27 extended into the annular groove 21 of the mounting ring 20, FIGURE 1.

The sampling device 10 also includes a pair of side plates 32 and 33 respectively, and these side plates are secured to the lower portions 25 of the end brackets 23 and 24 by means of right-angularly-defined edge flanges 34 which may be made rigid with the lower portions 25 in any well-known manner.

At the terminus of the upper edges of the lower portions 25 of the end brackets 23 and 24, the upper portions 35 of the side plates 32 and 33 converge toward each other to form a slit opening 36 which communicates with the interior of the sampling device 10. The slit opening 36 is of a breadth of .040 inch, since this size of opening has been found to be the most successful in sampling the type of ground materials for which it has been designed. The opening 36 extends for the entire width of the sampling device 10, .and the opposing edges of the upper portions 35 of the side plates 32 and 33 are secured to the inner surfaces of the end brackets 23 and 24 in any well-known manner to retain the side plates 32 and 33 in rigid relation to each other with the breadth of the slit opening 36 remaining constant.

The bottom edges of the side plates 32 and 33 are also provided with inwardlydirected, right-angularly-defined edge flanges 37, and these edge flanges 37 act as runways for a sliding bottom or access door 38. The bottom 38 may be made of a clear transparent plastic material of which there are many available on the open market, or it may be made of Teflon. The lower edges of the flanges 34 on the side plates 32 and 33 being cutaway, as shown in FIGURE 3, to permit withdrawal of the bottom 38 as desired.

The sampling device 10 is a substantially-rectangular, wedge-shaped container which may be made of stainless steel or any other suitable metallic material. The side brackets 23 and 24 serving to mount the sampling device 10 on the mounting ring 20 that is secured to the valve housing 17 of a grinding machine, a portion of which is shown in FIGURES l .and 2. The vibration of the grinding machine is transferred to the ampling device 10 by means of the side brackets 23 and 24, thus preventing the ground dry material from bridging over the slit opening 36 and thus preventing the ground materials from entering the sampling device 10.

The sampling device 10 is positioned in the path of the ground dry materials as they fall into a supply bin 39, and a hood 40 of a flexible impervious material i also secured to the mounting ring 20 and extends downwardly into the throat 41 of the supply bin 39 in circumjacent relation to the sampling device 10.

\Vhen the sampling device 10 is full, it is removed and by sliding the bottom outwardly of the sampling device 10 the ground dry material collected thereby may be visually examined to determine if it is of the specified consistency.

There has thus been provided [a sampling device that will obtain a continuous representation of the cross-section of the dry material being ground; and it is believed that the manner of use and the construction thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing escription. It is also to be understood that variations in the details of construction, arrangement, and combination 20 of parts of the invention may be adhered to providing such variations fall within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

A sampling device for positioning in the flow of dry portions thereof of triangular shape, and said body comprising a pair of side plates having right-angularly disposed side and bottom edge flanges thereon whereby said side plate-s are secured to said end brackets and the access door for said body is slidably mounted in said body.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,762,253 6/30 Wheeler 73423 2,081,000 5/37 Cornelius 251-151 X 3,098,390 7/63 Bourne et a1 73-424 FOREIGN PATENTS 598,333 5/60 Canada.

RICHARD C. QUEISSER, Primary Examiner.

DAVID SCHONBERG, Examiner. 

